International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Researchers claim to have found a link between foetal development and the profession of the mother.

A study set to be published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine indicates that some female workers, such as scientists and janitors, run a higher risk of suffering birth defects than others such as teachers.

Cervical cancer awareness campaigns can make a significant difference to the death rate associated with the disease, it has been claimed.

Robert Music, director of UK-based cervical cancer charity Jo's Trust, noted that the illness kills 1,000 women a year in the UK alone, despite being largely preventable.

Women who are trying to conceive should try and eat a "rainbow" of foods and avoid processed fats, it has been suggested.

Yvonne Bishop-Weston, nutritionist for UK-based First Response and Foods for Life, said women should steer clear of foods with lots of empty calories and few useful nutrients.

UK scientists have made a discovery which they say will help unlock the entire genetic code of both skin and lung cancer.

Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge managed to collect the thousands of pieces of damage in DNA which turns normal cells into lung or skin cancer, helping to map the genes that mutate in many forms of the disease.

A new programme aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality rates has been launched by member countries of the East, Central and Southern African Health Community, it has been reported.

The project will use focused antenatal care to reduce death rates, according to the Citizen Daily.

Despite a concerted effort to stamp out the practice, female genital mutilation (FGM) is rife in the UK.

According to the Independent on Sunday, the police are facing growing criticism for failing to prosecute a single person for carrying out FGM in the past 25 years.

HIV and Aids initiatives in Ghana have taken a back seat as decentralisation of health policy approaches.

Speaking at an Action Aid Ghana (AAG) meeting, Gilbert Nuuri-Teg, the upper-east regional focal person on HIV/Aids, was reported by the Ghana News Agency as saying that while awareness of the diseases had been raised, many people were not changing their behaviour.

Post-menopausal women who take antidepressants may be increasing their chances of suffering a stroke, it has been reported.

According to research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal, taking the drugs increases such risks by a small, but statistically significant amount.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has vowed to continue its commitment to cancer prevention in Africa.

IAEA director general Yukiya Amano confirmed during a trip to Nigeria that the agency would "intensify" its cooperation on cancer avoidance and care issues.

UK couples must be given greater access to IVF, according to one UK health body.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called for the fertility treatment to become more widely available on the UK's National Health Service (NHS).